Housing purchases declined again in November, posting an 8.2% drop from the same month a year earlier as higher interest rates and the resulting higher financing costs weighed on buyers amid rising inflation.
Data released on Thursday by the Notaries General Assembly show an initial October reading pointing to a 5% fall in sales, with mortgage loans for home purchases dropping 8.5% in November.
Average square meter prices continued to rise in November, though at a slower pace. Detached houses lost 5% to 614 euros per square meter, while semi-detached and other housing types rose by 1.2% to 1,570 euros/m².
Fewer transactions, higher costs
November tallies show 58,942 residential sales in total. In flats, transactions fell 7.5% year over year to 44,796 units, while detached houses declined 10.4% to 14,146 units.
Year over year, flat prices edged up 0.6% to 1,747 euros/m², and detached houses rose by 2.5% on average to 1,264 euros/m².
Sales dropped in 15 communities
In November, home sales decreased in fifteen autonomous communities and rose in only two.
The steepest declines were in Navarre (37.4%), La Rioja (30.4%), Cantabria (22.9%), Asturias (16.9%), the Balearic Islands (16.7%) and Castilla-La Mancha (15.5%).
Madrid also saw a drop (13.8%), followed by Murcia (13.4%), Galicia (12%), and Aragon (8.5%).
Valencia Community (1.8%), with declines below the national average, alongside the Basque Country (4.4%), Andalusia (5.4%), Catalonia (6.3%), and the Canary Islands (6.9%).
Only Extremadura (1.5%) and Castilla y León (1.3%) posted gains in November.
Prices increase in 11 districts
Prices lost momentum in November after a 2.6% rise in October, with increases spread across eleven communities and declines in the remaining six.
Double-digit gains appeared in Cantabria (19%), the Canary Islands (13.4%), and Madrid (10.9%).
Conversely, declines occurred in La Rioja (9.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (7%), Catalonia (1.4%), Murcia (0.3%), Extremadura (0.3%), and Galicia (0.1%).
Mortgages tighten and the loan amount stalls
In November, housing loans for home purchases fell 8.5% year over year to 28,391 transactions, extending the 4.8% decline seen in October.
The average loan amount remained nearly flat in November, at a 0.1% year-over-year change, reaching 147,833 euros.
The share of purchases financed by housing loans stood at 48.2%. In these financed purchases, loans accounted for an average of 71.8% of the price.
Mortgage loans for home purchases rose slightly in only one autonomous region, the Valencian Community (0.8%).
Sharp declines occurred in Navarra (28.3%), Murcia (24.1%), La Rioja (18.6%), Asturias (17.2%), Castile-La Mancha (14.8%), Galicia (14.1%), the Canary Islands (13.8%), Aragon (11.9%), and Madrid (11.8%).
Moderate decreases were seen in six communities: Basque Country (7.7%), Catalonia (6.9%), Andalusia (4.7%), Castile and León (4.2%), the Balearic Islands (0.8%), and Cantabria (0.6%).
The overall message remains clear: demand cooled as financing costs rose, while price dynamics varied by region, with some areas showing resilience and others recording notable declines. These movements reflect the broader pattern of tightening credit conditions and their effect on housing markets across the country.